Elastic scattering and rotational excitation of nitrogen molecules by sodium atoms

Jérôme Loreau, Peng Zhang, Alexander Dalgarno
2011 Journal of Chemical Physics  
Relaxation of energetic S(1D) atoms in Xe gas: Comparison of ab initio calculations with experimental data J. Chem. Phys. 135, 024304 (2011) Ultracold O2 + O2 collisions in a magnetic field: On the role of the potential energy surface J. Chem. Phys. 134, 124310 (2011) Cold and ultracold NH-NH collisions: The field-free case J. Chem. Phys. 134, 124309 (2011) Quantum and classical study of surface characterization by three-dimensional helium atom scattering J. Chem. Phys. 134, 024319 (2011)
more » ... ent numerical method for locating Feshbach resonances of ultracold molecules in external fields A quantal study of the rotational excitation of nitrogen molecules by sodium atoms is carried out. We present the two-dimensional potential energy surface of the NaN 2 complex, with the N 2 molecule treated as a rigid rotor. The interaction potential is computed using the spin unrestricted coupledcluster method with single, double, and perturbative triple excitations (UCCSD(T)). The long-range part of the potential is constructed from the dynamic electric dipole polarizabilities of Na and N 2 . The total, differential, and momentum transfer cross sections for rotationally elastic and inelastic transitions are calculated using the close-coupling approach for energies between 5 cm −1 and 1500 cm −1 . The collisional and momentum transfer rate coefficients are calculated for temperatures between 100 K and 300 K, corresponding to the conditions under which Na-N 2 collisions occur in the mesosphere.
doi:10.1063/1.3653983 pmid:22070297 fatcat:wqbaaibvbfgqfohmgiyq44u4tu